Everything You Need to Know About Nintendo Amiibos

What is an Amiibo?

Amiibos are figurines of Nintendo characters that can interact with Wii U games — a lot like Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures. They do connect to your console using near-field communication (NFC) technology.

How much do they cost?

They retail for $12.99 each.

Which Amiibos are available right now?

Mario

Samus (from Metroid)

Wii Fit Trainer

Link (from Zelda)

Kirby

Fox (from Star Fox)

Donkey Kong

Pikachu

Princess Peach

Marth (from Fire Emblem)

Yoshi

Villager (from Animal Crossing: New Leaf)

Princess Zelda

Diddy Kong

Luigi

Little Mac (from Punch-Out!)

Pit (from Kid Icarus)

Captain Falcon (from F-Zero)

Are more Amiibos expected to come out in the future?

Yes, and they will be released in waves. The two waves are already available. Here are the characters Nintendo has announced it’s releasing in the future.

Amiibos releasing in February, 2015

Rosalina and Luma (from Mario)

Bowser

Lucario (from Pokémon)

Toon Link (from Zelda)

Sheik (from Zelda)

Ike (from Fire Emblem)

Shulk (from Xenoblade Chronicles)

Sonic

Mega Man

King Dedede (from Kirby)

Meta Knight (from Kirby)

Mario Party 10 Amiibos releasing March 20, 2015

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Bowser

Toad

New Super Smash Bros. Amiibos releasing in spring 2015

Robin (from Fire Emblem)

Lucina (from Fire Emblem)

Pac-Man

Wario

Ness

Charizard (from Pokémon)

You may notice that some of the upcoming characters already have Amiibo figurines. The only thing differentiating the duplicates is that the new versions will come in different poses.

Source: Nintendo

How do you connect Amiibos with Wii U games?

If you look at the lower left corner of the Wii U GamePad, you’ll see a small rectangle. That’s where the NFC sensor is. Each Amiibo has an NFC chip embedded in its base, so when you set an Amiibo on that rectangle, the GamePad scans it into the game.

Which games are compatible with Amiibos?

So far, only Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Hyrule Warriors, and Mario Kart 8 are compatible with Amiibos.

Note, however, that not all Amiibos are compatible with all games, so you’ll want to check before buying. You can see which games are compatible by clicking on the Amiibos here.

What effect do Amiibos have in the games?

Amiibos do different things in different games. Here’s what they do in the games that are currently compatible:

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, your Amiibos become computer-controlled characters in the game. You can train them, adjust their stats, and have them fight alongside you. You can also bring your Amiibo over to a friend’s house and scan it into his or her game. However, you can’t directly control your Amiibo characters in the game.

In Mario Kart 8, Amiibos unlock special costumes for your Mii character to wear during races.

In Hyrule Warriors, connecting Amiibos unlocks special weapons. You can scan your Amiibo into the game each day to continue unlocking more weapons.

That’s it?

That’s it for now. Nintendo plans to release more Amiibo-compatible games in the future.

Source: Nintendo

What games are we talking about?

Mario Party 10, Yoshi’s Wooly World, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will be compatible with Amiibos. They’re all scheduled to release sometime in 2015. Check out our list of upcoming Wii U games for release dates.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, which is already available, will receive an update to become compatible with Amiibos on February 20, 2015, as well.

Are all Amiibos available at every Amiibo retailer?

Currently, yes. But some Amiibos releasing in the future will only be available at certain retailers, like Toys ‘R’ Us, GameStop, and Best Buy.

Do Amiibos work with the Nintendo 3DS?

The Nintendo 3DS currently available in the U.S. is not compatible with Amiibos. A more powerful “New Nintendo 3DS” is slated to release Stateside on February 13. That version will be compatible with Amiibos.

So should I buy Amiibos, Skylanders, or Disney Infinity?

It’s up to you! Each collection offers different a different take on what it means to connect real toys with digital games. All of the games are quite good, so there’s really no bad choice. The best advice is to go with whatever collection of characters you like the best.